Clear The Area
by Flora Perendie
Summary: Kyo refuses to let go of the past and gets haunted by what he thinks is the worst part of it. Rated T. KyoxOC. One-shot.


Disclaimer: Don't own Fruits Basket or the song. Song used: Clear The Area by Imogen Heap.

Warning: This is rated **T** for violence against inanimate objects, language, and some kisses.

A/N: This is (again) my OC, so no stealing her. Also another song fic... yes, I know, I'm hopelessly addicted to them. Oh well. Anyway, enjoy this little one-shot.

* * *

The apartment building, which had once been so full of life and sound, now stood silent in front of her. Flora looked up at the once sturdy five story building and sighed. She was afraid to go in, knowing how many memories waited to be relived. It was well after sunset and the whole block had been enveloped in shadows. Taking a deep breath, she clicked on her flashlight and stepped into the inner shadows of the building.

"_Knock, knock, are you alone?  
__No one's out here and I was not followed"_

Her eyes moved about rapidly and she had to stop and catch her breath more than once as she made her way up to the fourth floor. Every little sound from a skittering rat or a window creaking in the wind made her jump, and she could have sworn more than once that she saw something larger than a rat moving in the shadows.

She stepped up to the all too familiar door and sighed softly. 413. It had been hers once, or half hers as the case was. The apartment, just like the building, had been abandoned almost a full year ago. It took all of her courage to bring her hand up to the door and knock.

"Kyo?"

"_Love, love, you're already home  
__Party's over and you don't look so good"_

She really hadn't expected a response, so after waiting in the silence for a full minute, she cautiously opened the door. Except for the amount of dust and dirt building up in the corners and on top of some of the furniture, the apartment was almost completely unchanged. She shuddered at the thought, knowing that most of the apartments had been looted shortly after being abandoned.

Her heart started pounding slowly in her chest as she made her way through the living room to the kitchen. Dirty dishes were piled into the sink and clean ones sat in a drying rack next to it. She sighed, vaguely wondering why anyone would willingly choose to live like this. Her mind quickly left the thought, though, when she realized that, despite the mess in the rest of the apartment, the kitchen was spotless.

"_You find your way back down  
__And I'll keep the area clear"_

A small gasp escaped her lips as she fully stepped into the kitchen and looked around, her eyes wide in surprise. Had he really been living here all this time? It seemed almost nostalgic, that he would stay in the place he had claimed to hate the most.

She looked down at the polished floor with remorse. It had been her fault that they'd fought for that last time. A simple answer pleased most people, but she found them completely intolerable when they came from him. She always knew when he was hiding something, and her persistence in asking about it had finally driven them apart.

"_When you find your way back down in one piece  
__Then I'll just be waiting here, right here"_

It took almost ten minutes of staring at the floor before she felt strong enough to move on. She slowly stepped into the dining room, noting that it was as dirty as the living room had been. She wrote his name in the dust on the table, speaking it aloud softly, "Kyo."

Tears started to run down her cheeks slowly as she made her way back to the living room then back to the bedroom. Although it still wasn't in great shape, the bedroom had fared much better than the living or dining rooms had. She walked over to the bed and gently touched the comforter with her fingers, a sad smile tugging at her lips as she remembered restless nights spent on it with him.

A voice from the doorway brought her out of her reverie. "What are you doing here?"

She turned around quickly, her eyes wide with shock then softening a bit as a smile started to form on her lips.

"Kyo..."

"_No light, mercury morning  
__No need to stay as it's always nothing"_

His eyes held a dull anger as they gazed at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I came to find you," she said softly, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "I wanted to apologize, to try and make up for those things I said, and to—"

"Get out," he replied coldly.

"But Kyo I—"

"_But your eyes tell a whole other story  
__And I feel the weight of the world"_

"I said get out Flora," he repeated as he stepped toward her. His voice was as cold as ice, but his eyes were filled with a fiery rage as he glared at her.

Her whole body trembled and she had to lean against the bed for support. "Won't you hear me out?" she asked quietly.

"I heard you loud and clear the day you left. Now go!"

She winced at the sound of his voice and closed her eyes tightly. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Not until you listen."

"_Won't talk, won't try, just move  
__It's too still in your sadness"_

"Damn it, just leave me the hell alone!" he roared at her, quickly closing the gap between them.

She flinched at his tone of voice but didn't move, more so because her legs were no longer responding than because she wanted to stay. "I-I'm so sorry... Kyo... for hurting you..." She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him through teary eyes.

He stared back at her neutrally, his expression completely unreadable. He didn't move at all, his breathing so light that she wasn't sure if he was going to make it. Slowly, he leaned forward toward her and she bent backwards to move away. She cursed internally as her back came in contact with the bed, realizing two minutes too late that running might have been a good idea.

"_Cry, give up, it's okay  
__You've just got to trust me"_

Her whole body was shaking as he pressed her firmly against the bed with his own body. Slowly, he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the bed with one of his hands.

"K-Kyo..." she whispered, her eyes wide with fear, "what are you doing...?"

He gave her a long, calculated look before leaning his face up to hers and kissing her firmly on the lips. She struggled for less than a split-second, quickly remembering why she had fallen for him. He was strong, both of mind and body, and had always been there for her. He was dominant, and while she hated being controlled, she had always given in when he looked her in the eyes in the loving manner she had grown accustomed to.

The shock of something wet against her cheek brought her back to reality. She had already found a reason to be crying when she realized that it was actually Kyo's tears that she felt on her cheek. Her lower lip trembled even as he kissed her again and she found herself crying with him.

"_You find your way back down in one piece  
__And I'll keep the area clear, please clear the area  
__When you find your way back down in one piece  
__Then I'll just be waiting here, right here"_

He broke the kiss so quickly that it left the both of them slightly dizzy. He pulled completely away from her then turned his back to her. Why had he done that? She had hurt him, he remembered that well enough, and yet he still... no, he couldn't still love her. Not after that.

"Go," he said in a soft voice.

"I want to stay," she whispered, standing and stepping up behind him.

"I said go!" his voice was still soft, but this time it had some authority to it. He felt her shudder slightly, but didn't turn to look at her. "I don't want to see you again."

"_Slowly, darling, nobody means anymore to me than you"_

"That makes it difficult for me, because I want to stay. I want to be with you again. I want to forget the past and move forward – with you." She wrapped her arms around him carefully.

"You can't forget the past," he muttered. "Hatori wouldn't help you even if you asked him."

She frowned at this, but realized that he hadn't pulled away from her at all.

"_If you're in, baby, then I'm in, into this with you, always"_

"I don't mean like that," she said. "I want to for us to be able to put this behind us. We were happy once... Maybe, someday, we can be happy like that again."

He noticed her grip on him tighten slightly, but he couldn't bring himself to pull away. He sighed and shook his head.

"It's won't work," he said stiffly.

"_Careful, close to the edge, you're scaring me"_

"We can make it work, I know we can." She smiled up at him, even if he couldn't see. He was so much taller than her – a good eight inches if she remembered correctly. She felt small, insignificant in comparison to him like this, but she remembered when he had made her feel like an equal.

He clenched his fists and raised them to chest level. Her eyes widened slightly in horror as she watched. Kyo was normally a fairly good natured person, but she remembered when they had last fought, and how he had snapped so violently, at her and at himself.

"Please don't," she whispered softly. "I-I'm not trying to hurt you..."

"_Fall into my arms, where did it fall? Fall into love, love"_

He raised his fists even higher and she winced, but refused to let go of him. The crashing sound of wood and glass against the wall and floor ensued. She blinked then peered around him to see what had happened. He had broken the dresser that once stood in front of him completely in half, and the two halves had shattered upon hitting the floor

After taking a few steadying breaths, he finally looked down at the woman who clung to his waist. Her eyes were wide, but not with fear as he had expected – she seemed more surprised than anything. He took in the rest of her features as he looked at her, noting with slight sadness that that the worry of the past year had caused a few random hairs on her head to turn gray. Other than that, she was exactly the same girl he had loved.

"_You find your way back down in one piece  
__And I'll keep the area clear, please clear the area  
__When you find your way back down in one piece  
__Then I'll just be waiting here, right here"_

"Flora," he said softly, causing the girl to jump. "I'm sorry."

She looked confused by the sudden apology. "About what?"

"About... scaring you..." he faltered, not knowing how to truly apologize to her for the hell he had put her through since she had walked out the door a year ago. He looked her in the eyes and watched as understanding came into them.

"I'm sorry too," she said, nodding. "For everything I ever did to hurt you."

A small smile found its way to his lips as he looked down at her and she immediately smiled brightly back at him.

"_You find your way back down, way back down"_

"I've missed your smile," she said with a small laugh.

"I've missed your laugh," he said with a chuckle.

"_And I'll keep the area clear, so please clear the area"_

"I've got a small apartment for myself," she said after a moment's silence. "If you want... you could... you know... come back, with me..." Her gaze wandered away from his face to an interesting speck of pain on the wall.

"_When you find your way back down in one piece"_

"Are you sure you want me back?" he sighed. "I haven't changed over the past year, and if I have, I don't notice it."

She shrugged. "I haven't really changed either. I'm still as stubborn as always, though now I'm living completely on my own, so I suppose I'm more responsible."

"So you don't go shopping with the girls every weekend?"

"And why would you care to know that?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

This time he was the one to shrug. "I always did love those little outfits you brought home randomly..." he trailed off, a smirk starting to form on his lips as he turned around to face her.

"_Then I'll just be waiting here..."_

She laughed softly. "I take it you want me to pull a few of those out then?"

"Later, after I've shown you just how much I missed you."

"_...right here"_

She blushed as she smiled up at him. "Let's go home, love."


End file.
